Auckland rugby union team
| Union | Auckland Rugby Football Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1883 | |
| Region | Blues | |
| Ground(s) | Eden Park (Capacity: 50,000) | |
| Coach(es) | Alama Ieremia | |
| Captain(s) | Patrick Tuipulotu | |
| League(s) | Mitre 10 Cup | |
| 2017 | 6th | |
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| Official website | ||
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aucklandrugby | ||
Auckland are the top representative rugby union team of the Auckland Rugby Football Union in New Zealand. They currently compete in the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership. Auckland has been the most successful team in NPC and its successors, winning the title a record 16 times. Auckland have also produced a record number of All Blacks, 181, the most recent being Akira Ioane in 2017. Auckland are currently coached by Alama Ieremia.
History
Auckland has been the most successful union in New Zealand rugby history, having won a record 16 ITM Cup (and predecessor competition) titles. Auckland also holds the record for the most Ranfurly Shield wins (16), successful defences (148), and longest streak of successful defences (61). All Blacks statistics also reveal the extent of Auckland's influence: of the 1071 players to have worn the national jersey from 1888 to 2008, 133 were born in Auckland, compared to Christchurch (74), Wellington (60) and Dunedin (53).
Golden eras
There have been many notable eras in the team's history. They were undefeated for six seasons from 1897, and there was a ground breaking run in the early 1920s under Sir Vincent Meredith.
The 1960–63 period, known as the Golden Era, was summed up in The Golden Years written by Don Cameron in 1983. Sir Wilson Whineray, who captained Auckland through those years, describes the period as one of "excitement, drama and fervor that transformed Eden Park into an oasis of magic during the winters of 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963."
There was also a relatively undisturbed spell of success from 1982 through to the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup victory. Auckland won 16 of the 26 Air NZ NPC titles available in that time – a period that included 61 Ranfurly Shield defences.
Ranfurly Shield years
Auckland were the first holders of the shield in 1902 and have won 153 out of 194 shield matches up to 2007 – the most successful record of any provincial union. Since 1902 there have been three notable shield eras: from 1905 to 1913 there were 23 challenges repelled, another 25 between 1960 and 1963, and 61 challenges in the period from 1985 to 1993. Players like Andy Haden, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Drake, Olo Brown, Zinzan and Robin Brooke, Gary and Alan Whetton, Michael Jones, Steve McDowall, Grant Fox, Bernie McCahill,Grant Dickson, Mark Carter, Joe Stanley, John Kirwan and Terry Wright were important in Auckland's success in the 1980s and 90s.
With six titles in the 1990s, and four so far in the new century, Auckland's success continued. The 2007 team was the first since the 1990 side to remain unbeaten in a season and win the Ranfurly Shield and the provincial championship. Players like Kees Meeuws, Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams, Justin Collins, Xavier Rush, Steve Devine, Brad Mika, Ben Atiga, Doug Howlett, Daniel Braid, Brent Ward and Angus Macdonald have contributed to this success.
Stadium
Auckland play their home matches at Eden Park, and have done so since 1925. It opened in 1900 and also is used for cricket. Eden Park has the largest crowd capacity of any New Zealand sporting venue with around 42,000 for cricket and 47,500 for rugby. It is currently expanding from a seating plan of 47,500 to an estimated 60,000.
Current squad
The Auckland squad for the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup is:[1]
| Auckland squad | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Props
Hookers
Locks
|
Loose forwards
Halfbacks (Scrum-halves)
First five-eighths (Fly-halves)
|
Midfielders (Centres)
Outside Backs
|
| (c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped |
All Blacks
This is a list of players who have represented New Zealand from the Auckland team. Players are listed by the decade they were first selected in and players in bold are current All Blacks.
1880–99
- George Carter – 1884
- John Gage Lecky – 1884
- Timothy Beehane O'Connor – 1884
- Thomas Ryan – 1884
- Joseph Astbury Warbrick – 1884
- Francis Mahon Jervis – 1893
- Frederick Steele Miller Murray – 1893
- Charles Richard Barton Speight – 1893
- Maurice Herrold – 1893
- Robert Hugh McKenzie – 1893
- Frank Surman – 1896
- Robert Alexander Handcock – 1897
- George William Smith – 1897
- Alexander Wilson – 1897
1900–19
- William Cunningham – 1901
- William Edward Hay-MacKenzie – 1901
- Robert Wylie McGregor – 1901
- Albert Asher – 1903
- David Gallaher – 1903
- Henry Kiernan – 1903
- Andrew Thomas Long – 1903
- George William Nicholson – 1903
- George Tyler – 1903
- Charles Edward Seeling – 1904
- William Henry Mackrell – 1905
- Arthur Reginald Howe Francis – 1905
- Harold Owen Hayward – 1908
- Michael Joseph O'Leary – 1910
- Frank Reginald Wilson – 1910
- James Richard Maguire – 1910
- Albert Joseph Downing – 1913
- Alwin John McGregor – 1913
- George Maurice Victor Sellars – 1913
- James Thomas Wylie – 1913
- John Alexander Bruce – 1913
- James Barrett – 1913
- William McKail Geddes – 1913
- John Victor Macky – 1913
- James Douglas Stewart – 1913
- John Gerald O'Brien – 1914
- Lynley Herbert Weston – 1914
1920–39
- Cecil Edward Oliver Badeley – 1920
- Vivian Whitta Wilson – 1920
- Karl Donald Ifwerson – 1921
- Andrew James O'Brien – 1922
- Victor Ivan Roskill Badeley – 1922
- Leonard Stephen Righton – 1923
- Frederick William Lucas – 1923
- Albert Edward Cooke – 1924
- Lawrence Alfred George Knight – 1925
- Arthur Robert Lomas – 1925
- Herman Alfred Mattson – 1925
- Donald Hector Wright – 1925
- Arthur Knight – 1926
- Thomas Reginald Sheen – 1926
- William Alexander Wright – 1926
- Swinbourne Hadley – 1928
- Ruben George McWilliams – 1928
- Walter Batty – 1928
- Victor Claude Butler – 1928
- Llewellyn Simpkin Hook – 1928
- Bertram Pitt Palmer – 1928
- Mervyn Miles Nelson Corner – 1930
- Frank Solomon – 1931
- Thomas Harcourt Clarke Caughey – 1932
- William Edward Hadley – 1934
- Cyril Stennart Pepper – 1935
- David Solomon – 1935
- Henry Mackay Brown – 1935
- Brian Alexander Killeen – 1936
- Terence McClatchey Lockington – 1936
- John Dick – 1937
- William Nicol Carson – 1938
1940–59
- Frederick Richard Allen – 1946
- John Markham Dunn – 1946
- Maurice James McHugh – 1946
- Robert William Henry Scott – 1946
- Eric George Boggs – 1946
- John George Simpson – 1947
- Percy Laurence Tetzlaff – 1947
- Neville Henry Thornton – 1947
- Arthur Maitland Hughes – 1947
- Neville Wyatt Black – 1949
- Patrick Joseph Bourke Crowley
- Desmond Lawrence Christian – 1949
- Ronald Leslie Dobson – 1949
- John Wallace Kelly – 1949
- John Maurice Tanner – 1950
- Charles Percy Erceg – 1951
- David Ross Wightman – 1951
- Selwyn George Bremner – 1952
- Keith Davis – 1952
- Jack Robert Skeen – 1952
- Hallard Leo White – 1953
- Terence Raymond Lineen – 1957
- Raymond Frank McMullen – 1957
- Wilson James Whineray – 1957
- Adrian Hipkins Clarke – 1958
1960–79
- William Anthony Davies – 1960
- Steven Roberto Nesbit – 1960
- Desmond Michael Connor – 1961
- Donald William McKay – 1961
- Paul Francis Little – 1961
- Waka Joseph Nathan – 1962
- MacFarlane Alexander Herewini – 1962
- Barry Trevor Thomas – 1962
- Malcolm John Dick – 1963
- Peter Henry Murdoch – 1964
- Ronald Edward Rangi – 1964
- Grahame Stuart Thorne – 1967
- Ronald Anthony Urlich – 1970
- Bryan George Williams – 1970
- Kenneth Roy Carrington – 1971
- Peter John Whiting – 1971
- Andrew Maxwell Haden – 1972
- Bruce Mcleod Gemmell – 1974
- Lawrence Gibb Knight – 1974
- Jon Stanley McLachlan – 1974
- Christopher Louis Fawcett – 1976
- Bradley Ronald Johnstone – 1976
- Stuart Bruce Conn – 1976
- Colin Paul Farrell – 1977
- Barry Graeme Ashworth – 1978
- Gary Ruchard Cunningham – 1979
- Timothy Moore Twigden – 1979
1980–89
- Gregory Alexander John Burgess – 1980
- Gary William Whetton – 1981
- Alan James Whetton – 1984
- John James Kirwan – 1984
- Grant James Fox – 1984
- John Gordon Mills – 1984
- Kurt Sherlock – 1985
- Alan Scanlan – 1985
- John Alan Drake – 1985
- Mark Brooke-Cowden – 1986
- Gregory John Luke Cooper – 1986
- Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick – 1986
- Joseph Tito Stanley – 1986
- Terence John Wright – 1986
- Michael Niko Jones – 1987
- Zinzan Valentine Brooke – 1987
- Bernard Joseph McCahill – 1987
- Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala – 1989
- Craig Ross Innes – 1989
- Matthew John Ridge – 1989
1990–99
- Olo Max Brown
- Mark Peter Carter – 1991
- Jason Alexander Hewett – 1991
- Frank Eneri Bunce – 1992
- Eroni Clarke – 1992
- Robin Matthew Brooke – 1992
- Patrick Richard Lam – 1992
- Craig William Dowd – 1993
- Lee Stensness – 1993
- Shane Paul Howarth – 1993
- Carlos James Spencer – 1995
- Adrian Richard Cashmore – 1996
- Andrew Francis Blowers – 1996
- Ofisa Francis Junior Tonu'u – 1996
- Charles Calvin Reichelmann – 1997
- Jeremy Crispian Stanley – 1997
- Kees Junior Meeuws – 1998
- Xavier Joseph Rush – 1998
- Dylan Gabriel Mika – 1999
- Douglas Charles Howlett – 2000
- Stephen John Devine – 2002
- Alexander James Williams – 2002
- Bradley Moni Mika – 2002
- Keven Filipo Mealamu – 2002
- Daniel John Braid – 2002
- Josevata Taliga Rokocoko – 2003
- Junior Malili Muliaina – 2003
- Benjamin Alo Charles Atiga – 2003
- Samual Tuitupou – 2004
- Saimone Taumoepeau – 2004
- Jerome Kaino – 2004
- Derren John Witcombe – 2005
- Angus James Macdonald – 2005
- Ioane Fitu Afoa – 2005
- Isaia Toeava – 2005
2010 –
- Benson Stanley – 2010
- Charlie Faumuina – 2012
- Francis Saili – 2013
- Steven Luatua – 2013
- Charles Piutau – 2013
- Malakai Fekitoa – 2014
- Patrick Tuipulotu – 2014
- George Moala – 2015
- Rieko Ioane - 2016
- Matthew Duffie - 2017
- Akira Ioane - 2017
References
- ↑ "Player Profiles". Auckland Rugby. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
External links
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